Gungor

www.gungormusic.com

“If leading worship is just about bringing a group of people into a room so we can get goosebumps and sing songs together, there’s not much value in that. But if leading worship is a means to an end, that we leave this place as a different kind of people, as part of a new humanity that God wants to create – the people that are caring for the widows and orphans, that aren’t bound by the systems of this world but becoming free, becoming fully engaged in our world – then that matters.”

It is fascinating to see what has gotten Michael Gungor to this point of introspection. He has been leading worship since he was 12 years old, if you count an audience of 2 and 3 year olds. From there he graduated to children’s church, then youth group, then adults. Gungor studied jazz in college, then connected with teen ministry Acquire the Fire and a position at Resurrection Life Church in Michigan.

As Gungor’s idea of God changed, so did his idea of church, so he and his wife moved to Denver and eventually founded a community of believers called Bloom.

He formed The Michael Gungor Band, and began to play churches and release albums.

“The story of God has gotten bigger to me,” relates Gungor, who is perhaps best known for co-writing distinguished songs like “Friend of God” and the Dove Award-winning “Say So.” “We had become ‘professional’ Christians. We got to the point where we needed to figure out how to be the church in a more honest way for us.”

His reflective analyses of the foundations of his calling have even led Michael Gungor to change the name of his band. The former Michael Gungor Band, whose 2008 debut on Brash Music, Ancient Skies, garnered critical acclaim, is now simply Gungor.

“With where I'd like to go as a band, ‘The Michael Gungor Band’ doesn't make sense,” says Michael. “So we're changing the name to Gungor, to be a little less concretely about one front person. I don't want this band to simply be about me.”

Just as the band is about far more than one person, this album is about a God so great and grand that our response should be deep, creative, and passionate.